


free and young (and we feel none of it)

by lanparti



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, a severe lack of renison, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 03:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19220926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanparti/pseuds/lanparti
Summary: Neil isn’t certain of many things, but he knows that he absolutely hates Andrew Joseph Minyard.





	free and young (and we feel none of it)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loose_canon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loose_canon/gifts).



> okay, so this is for the pissboy extravaganza (IYKYK) and my gift recipient was Lex! The prompt was 'Andreil or Renison are the faves but we all love wholesome content' and I apparently completely ignored it but whatever. Sorry this is so bad, Lex, the other one is so much better, but also too long for me to finish right now. :sadyeehaw: 
> 
> Some notes for this fic:  
> -Neil's dad is dead, but he still scarred his face because that's an important part of neil's character and im not getting rid of it for this  
> -neil got adopted by abby because she had to patch him up after the police got him from his father and she moved them down to south carolina and then subsequently fell in love with david wymck, i dont make the rules  
> -edgar allen is a K-12 school and edgar allen university is where most kids end up going afterwards. r/ko is not mentioned by name, but he is shaded slightly in a way that i understand

**October**

When Neil moved into town after being adopted by Abby, the first person he met was Kevin. Kevin had gone to Edgar Allen—the best school for exy in the entire country—before an accident happened and he moved in with his dad, Coach. Even now, years later, he still flinched away from Coach—Kevin’s dad was the local high school’s exy coach and told everyone to call him Coach because it was a lot easier to say instead of Mr. Wymack—but he knew that he would be safe in this house. When they met, Kevin had told him hours upon hours of exy facts and, when he found out that Neil used to play when he lived in Baltimore, made his dad get an extra stick so they could play together in the backyard.

It had been the first time that Neil had made a friend and he had been so certain that there was no way his life could get any better. They did drills together and practiced shooting and passing every Saturday afternoon.

But then, because the universe loves to prove him wrong, Kevin invited Andrew and Aaron to play exy too because it was imperative to their training that they have, and he quotes, ‘a proper defense even if Andrew only stands in the goal at the best and Aaron is too short to really block.’ Neil remembers feeling hatred towards the pair of twins before he even met them because Kevin was _his_ friend first and he didn’t want to lose him already.

That next Saturday, Neil had walked the whole way to Kevin’s house instead of running, the grip of his stick tightening the closer he got to the Wymack-Day household. Anxiety coiled in his stomach when he noticed the two extra jackets in the closet when he hangs his own up and hears voices filtering in from the open backdoor. He had pondered the idea of just walking his way back to Abby’s house but then the sight of Kevin’s bright red sneakers entered his vision and he knew it was too late.

“Neil! Where were you? You’re late, come on. Let me introduce you to Andrew and Aaron, they’re a year old than you, but you’ve been playing longer than them so it won’t be an issue. I was thinking we could run some two-versus-one scrimmages, but it depends on how Andrew is feeling about being in goal for that long.” Kevin’s voice fills his ears as the other grabs his wrist to drag him out to the backyard. Panic seizes his chest at the grip, but he stumbled after him anyways until a halo of sunshine golden hair floods in his vision and his heart beats faster in his chest.

Neil’s eyes get lost in pools of amber and he wonders if this is what the girls in his class mean when they say love on first sight. He knows he isn’t in love with this guy, but he can’t help the way his heart seizes up in his chest as his eyes take in his built frame, his black clothing, the armbands that cover his forearms.

It takes him a minute longer than it should have to realize that the other guy was also staring at him. The scars on his face from his last visit to Baltimore burned with shame as he imagines the worst of the thoughts going through his mind. Maybe it didn’t even matter how he felt for the guy; it didn’t change the fact that the guy probably wouldn’t think of him as anything other than weird.

“Neil!” Kevin’s voice cuts him out of his thoughts and the full body flinch isn’t repressed enough in time for one of the twins to not look at him with an eyebrow raised. “Are you even paying attention to me? I swear—Whatever. This is Andrew and Aaron, goalie and backliner respectively. Andrew, Aaron, this is Neil. He’s a striker. Let’s just get going before it’s too dark to do drills outside.”

Neil shakes himself out of his mind, focusing on the pair of twins he had been introduced to. The only difference between the pair of them was the clothing they wore and the exy stick they held; a typical backliner stick for who must’ve be Aaron and a large goalie stick for Andrew. Identical as they were, there was something about Andrew that entranced him and made him _want_ to talk to him. Maybe he could ask Kevin what this feeling was. He was already a junior; he probably knew about it.

Aaron was the first to speak after introductions, crossing his arms over his chest even if the stick got in the way slightly. “Can we play exy now that everyone’s here?” He asked, already turning to make his way out towards the goal Kevin had set up against the backyard fence.

With Neil’s focus off of who must’ve been Andrew, he remembers what he had been dreading all along, the distraction to his practice with Kevin.

He glares daggers into Kevin’s back the entire time as they make their way over and he still isn’t sure if it’s because he invited them or something else.

**May**

Neil was practically vibrating in his shoes as he listened to Abby tell him her usual speech about being safe and stranger danger and looking both ways before crossing the street. His eyes flicked from her face to the clock on the wall behind her every other second as he silently begged her to hurry up so he could run out already.

It was a Saturday, which meant is was _exy_ day, which meant that he would see _Andrew_. Well, Aaron and Kevin and probably the seniors too, but most importantly Andrew.

“—your phone charged and call me if there’s any trouble. I love you, have fun.” Neil zoned back in at the tail end of her speech and was quick to yell out a fast ‘I’ll be back before dark’ before all but racing out of the house, fingers tapping against the keys of his flip phone to let Andrew know he was on his way.

Wind raced past his face as he pressed himself to run faster to get to Kevin’s house as early as possible. Kevin was the only kid in the neighborhood to have a street exy goal in his backyard, which meant that they all gathered there to play with him every Saturday.

The door was already open when he got there, the sound of backyard exy an ambiance he wanted nothing more than to immerse himself into as he stepped inside.

Making his way to the backyard is easy enough for Neil to do blind at this point. He shoots Coach a quick hello on his way in as he hangs up his jacket next to a matching one, heading out to the all too familiar backyard court.

The set up isn’t all too different from how it was years ago, the old beat up goal marking one end of the yard and the newer goal Kevin had begged his dad for marking the other. A circle had been spray-painted to mark center court, but rain and lawnmowers had ruined it to the point of no distinction. Even though the backyard court was nothing like the school’s plexiglass encased court that he called home, there was something nostalgic about running around on grass and passing off of fences into old net goals.

A chorus of ‘Hey Neil’s greeted him as he stepped out to meet his team, his _family,_ the Foxes _._ Dan Wilds, the captain of their high school team at Palmetto, waved him over to where she stood with her boyfriend and starting backliner, Matt Boyd. Allison Reynolds, who Nicky called the schools ‘obligatory rich bitch’, stood with them with her hand in the back pocket of alternate goalie Renee Walker. Getting the upperclassmen to even show up to Kevin’s house the first time had been no easy feat, but Neil was glad he tried because the team was so much closer now instead of being two completely separate groups.

On the other side of the yard was Andrew and his group. Kevin looked almost out of place amongst the five-foot twins, but he melded into their group easily as he argued with Andrew over something—probably the pint of ice cream he held in his hand. When Andrew looked away from Kevin and met his eye, there was a quirk to his lip that caused Neil to smile wider as he made his way over towards the group.  

“Hey,” he greeted, slightly out of breath from his run there. “What’s going on?” He motions between Andrew and Kevin, the former as chill as always and the latter red in the face.

It’s Kevin who answers him, a look of relief on his face when he sees Neil. It’s a look Neil only sees when Kevin wants something. “Neil! Tell Andrew to stop eating ice cream all the time. We could’ve beaten Breckenridge if he had a better diet. I keep telling him, but you know he only does things when you make him do them.”

Neil has to stifle a laugh at the notion that he makes Andrew do anything. Instead, he turns his attention to his boyfriend and hums gently, something he picked up from him. “Andrew, if you shut down the goal next game, I’ll buy you two pints of ice cream.” Neil offers, mostly because he loves when Andrew plays his best and to spite Kevin for yelling at him about the one point he missed out on last game.

His only focus is Andrew as the corner of his mouth quirks up into a smirk at the offer. “Junkie.” He teases in a way that only Neil would call affectionately. “Two pints of ice cream and come over after the game.” He offers in rebuttal, to which Neil grinned at.

“Deal.”

Distantly, he hears Kevin grumble about how he ‘should’ve expected this to happen’ but can’t find it in him to care about anything than the ‘yes or no’ that Andrew murmurs or the feeling of his palm against Neil’s.

**October**

Neil isn’t sure what he hates more right now. Andrew or the fact that Andrew is actually good in goal.

The grip on his stick gets tighter with every missed shot, the clench of his jaw tightens with every ‘better luck next time’ sent his way. His hold on his pride strengthens and the hold on his tongue weakens the less emotion that Andrew shows with each blocked shot.

Aaron was the first one to drop out of the game, citing that he was tired from the school day and didn’t want to play exy anymore. The look on Kevin’s face was enough to make Neil almost glad that Aaron dropped the game.

Past that, Kevin and Neil took turns taking shots on Andrew, which had led to the frustration level that Neil was experiencing now. He had thought that there was nothing worse than watching as Andrew stood still for Kevin, letting in shot after shot until Kevin got frustrated and stormed into the house, but then he realized that Andrew wasn’t going to let any of _his_ shots in when it was 1v1.

After the first few shots, he figures that it was just luck. The next five made him annoyed and yet determined. What felt like the next thousand shots just sent anger coursing through him at the idea that Andrew was blocking out all of his shots like it was nothing. While Neil was all but dripping sweat from all of the running and twisting and shooting that he was trying his hardest to do, Andrew looked like he could go for another hour without so much as breaking a sweat.

His arms feel like Jell-O by the time he lets the stick drop but all he can focus on is the anger rising in his chest.

“What’s your problem with me?” He snarls at him, chest heaving from exertion. “I didn’t do anything to you, so why do you have it out for me?” His ankle twinges in pain from the returns Andrew hit towards it but he ignores it in favor of focusing on the anger festering in his chest.

Andrew, for what it’s worth, doesn’t make any notion that he wasn’t expecting this, nor does he make it seem as though he was. He remains impassive as he always seems to be, and it makes Neil’s blood boil.

Neil steps closer to him, taking full advantage of the extra three inches he has on the other guy. “Fuck you, Andrew. I don’t know what I did to make you hate me, but I don’t care either. You aren’t worth it. Give it another month and Kevin will say the same thing.”

Andrew tilts his chin up slightly, a challenge if Neil has ever seen one, a slight smirk on his face. “Kevin needs to learn how to make better friends, that’s all.”

Neil’s hands clench at the insinuation of those words and he glares at the other. “And that’s why he has me, not you.”

**May**

Neil’s eyes shine under the court lights as he looks up at the scoreboard.

7-3 isn’t a bad score when they were up 5-0 at half time after Andrew played. Neil’s eyes search through the cheers on the court for Andrew, smile wide on his face as he jogged over towards his boyfriend through the chaos.

“Hey,” he breathed when he reached him, pushing his hair out of his face with his free hand, the other holding his helmet and stick. “You did good out there.”

Andrew takes the praise easily, leaning against his stick easily. “So did you, Junkie. Aaron’s getting a ride home, so I have the car. Hope you remember our deal; I’m taking you out tonight.”

Neil grinned easily at him, leaning in a little closer to him. “I’ll get you the ice cream tomorrow. Yes or no?” He says softly, hand extended towards him.  

Andrew barely says his ‘yes’ before Neil is reaching for his hand, weaving their fingers together easily as the warmth from Andrew’s palm spreads to his. There was a fuzzy feeling in his chest at the feeling and he remembers that Andrew had told him the reasoning behind the feeling, something about thermodynamic equilibrium and a bunch of psychology terms that Neil barely understood. All Neil had cared for was the fact that apparently, opposites attract, which meant that Neil with his cold hands was meant for Andrew with his warm ones.

“Hey, Andrew?” Neil murmured as they made their way towards the locker room. When he received his hum of acknowledgment, he continued on. “You know I love you, right?”

The grip on his hand tightened slightly and Neil had to bite his lip to stifle the soft laugh he had from seeing the tips of Andrew’s ears go red at the statement.

“Yeah, I know, Neil.” Andrew returned, looking straight ahead as they walked. “I do too.”

Their teammates know better than to mention their interlocked hands during the post-game talk from Coach and even more so not to mention the slight smile that Andrew wore on his face.

Neil wasn’t certain of many things, but he was certain that he loved Andrew Joseph Minyard.

**Author's Note:**

> once more, im so sorry that it was so bad Lex, i swear the other one will be better (which i will send to you the second i finish it, swear on it). also, might expand on this, in which case i will also send it to you :pensive:


End file.
